I Love A Rainy Night
by knifethrower
Summary: A little story about being young and in love...
1. Chapter 1

This is just going to be a little, two-chapter story…

The sun was down, and the day was over. The only light in the lonely house came from the television. Kagome curled up in the corner of the leather couch, stroking the tight skin of her belly. Pretending it was her husband's hand soothing the baby inside, and not her own. Pup, she reminded herself. Every time she referred to the bump as her baby, she was firmly corrected. The local news, and then the national news, a few hours of inane sitcoms. A documentary about Jack the Ripper. Her eyes bleared as she stared at the television screen. Even with the three-hour time difference between Connecticut and California, Sesshomaru should have called her hours ago. She tried not to be bitter. For her pup's sake.

Her father-in-law, Inu Taisho, called the shots. Pack hierarchy. Sesshomaru explained it to her when Inu Taisho ordered him to fly to Los Angeles. InuYasha, who had been named head of Taisho Corporation's west coast operations, had allowed his division to flounder. As eldest son, it was Sesshomaru's job to straighten things out. Pup or no pup.

Relations were strained enough between Inu Taisho and his heir. Sesshomaru had married Kagome in front of a magistrate as soon as she graduated from high school, and he was only five hundred years old, himself. The old inu had been enraged when he found out they had gotten married. He only allowed them to stay together because of the baby. Pup, she reminded herself yet again, tears prickling her eyelids. Now the eleven o'clock news was on, and she could not bring herself to eat. Her stomach churned with nausea from the tears she held back. Finally, exhausted, she fell asleep. In her sleep, she finally cried, her damp cheek plastered to the leather upholstery of the arm of the couch.

She dreamed she was walking home from school. InuYasha was supposed to meet her in the student parking lot, but his red Ford-F150 was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't the first time he had left her high and dry, so she shouldered her backpack and set out on the three-mile hike to the farmhouse where she lived with her mother.

The first part of her walk was on smooth concrete sidewalks. It was late September, and the maple trees had dumped their colorful leaves on the ground in drifts of pink and yellow and orange. Their scent was pungent and intoxicating. She scuffed her loafers, kicking up leaves, not at all unhappy to be abandoned by her long-time boyfriend. His father had sent him hostelling in Europe over the summer, and the time apart had given Kagome a chance to do some much-needed thinking.

The wind kicked up, raising goosebumps on Kagome's arms and bare legs. The pleated skirt of her school uniform was dangerously short, so she held it down with one hand as she walked. A long black sedan from the 1970s drove past, shiny as a hearse.

Now the wind carried tiny specks of rain, and she was still in town, where the streets were paved in bricks and bordered by large, brightly painted wooden houses. At least two miles left to go. She heard him coming from behind, speakers blaring out the thrash rock he loved so much. InuYasha. She came to a halt on the sidewalk, hands on her hips and legs apart. The window of the truck rolled down.

"Hurry up and get in, wench."

"I don't think so, InuYasha."

"Get in, you stupid bitch, it's starting to rain!"

She walked through a drift of leaves to get to the side of his truck. The inside reeked of pot and the distinctive smell of Kikyo's drugstore perfume.

"InuYasha. We need to talk."

Three minutes later, it was over. He laid rubber as he drove away. The rain fell harder, washing away years of InuYasha's bullshit.

She was soaked through, and having trouble seeing through her sodden eyelashes, when the long black car pulled up along side her.

The tinted window on the passenger side rolled down. "Kagome. Get in the car." Sesshomaru, InuYasha's older half-brother.

She waded through a sodden pile of leaves to get to the car, and climbed in, slamming the door behind her. The car was warm and dry. The huge bench seat of Sesshomaru's car smelled richly of leather cleaner.

Sesshomaru looked over at the girl. She was drenched and shivering. Even soaked to the skin, she looked good on the seat of his car, like she belonged there. He shrugged his way out of the gray sweatshirt he was wearing, and handed it to her. She took it, not saying a word, just looking at him out of those big, pansy eyes of hers.

"Dry your hair with it, then put it on." He turned pointedly away, looking out the driver's side window to give her privacy.

Sighing, and feeling guilty at taking the shirt from his back, she dried her hair as best she could, then struggled out of her wet blouse. She pulled the sweatshirt over her head. It was warm from his body heat and smelled like him. Nice. She looked up, and found him staring at her.

"Take your bra off." Looking away from his eyes, she reached behind her, fumbling with the hooks and eyes that held the bra together. She blushed harder, and stuffed the wet undergarment into her backpack.

When she arched her back, he felt himself go from partially aroused to rock hard. Covering for his discomfiture, he made a point of adjusting the heater, and turning on the radio. The girl had always held a fascination for him. She was so pure, and clean. With her long, slender limbs and delicate wrists and ankles, she reminded him of a young doe, poised on the brink of maturity. Everything about her made him clench tight inside. Her little heart-shaped face, her tousled mane of inky black hair, tiny waist, and ripe, round breasts all beckoned to the predator in him. 'Down, boy,' he told himself mentally.

"Why are you not with my half-brother?" He asked, in a dry tone of voice.

Sesshomaru had always had some strange sort of power over her. It might have been his eyes, or his deep, reassuring voice, or the fact that, as long as she could remember, he was the only one who always told her the truth. Whatever the reason, she found herself answering, telling him the whole tiresome story of her, and InuYasha, and Kikyo.

Sesshomaru drove slowly and carefully. The houses got further apart, and when they reached the first stoplight, he pulled onto the asphalt pavement of the main road out of town. Kagome's mother, who was a very pretty woman in her own right, worked as a receptionist in his division, and he knew she spent most of her nights at the bars. There was no reason to hurry, only to leave Kagome alone in an empty house.

The heater was on full-blast. Kagome wiggled out of her shoes and socks, sighing as the hot air toasted her damp, chilly toes. She snuggled into the fluffy warmth of the borrowed sweatshirt. The radio played softly, some easy listening music that seemed right for Sesshomaru's vintage car. She watched the rain pound the windshield, the wipers slapping back and forth with authority. She felt safe, and warm, and more content than she could remember being in the longest time.

She glanced over at Sesshomaru. He was pale as an angel in his white tee-shirt. She could see his tight male nipples through the thin fabric.

Sesshomaru drove carefully, enjoying the presence of the girl beside him. A half-hour out of town, he spotted the neon lights of the diner shining through the rain. Neither one said a word as he pulled into a parking space. He got out, ignoring the rain, and walked around the long front end of the car to open her door for her. Deciding to abandon her wet socks, she shoved her bare feet into her still damp loafers.

He pulled her to his side and guided her up the steps, and pulled the glass door open. The diner was brightly lit and smelled richly of fried food and chicken gravy. He only let go of her hand after she slid into the burgundy vinyl bench of their booth. He took his seat across from her. His eyes never left her face, making her blush again. She broke eye contact, and stared at the chipped formica tabletop.

The rosy-cheeked waitress who bustled over was a good advertisement for the establishment. She took their orders amiably, not flinching when Sesshomaru asked for a big Delmonico steak, barely warmed on the grill. The diner was known for its chicken and dumplings, which Sesshomaru ordered for Kagome, wanting her to have a hot, solid meal.

The diner was not busy. There were only a few customers, seated at the counter, so their booth felt quiet and private. They took their time eating, neither feeling the need to talk. It felt good. It felt comfortable.

It was pitch dark when they finally left the diner. Sesshomaru tucked her back into his car, running to the driver's side through the pouring rain. The engine turned over willingly, the dash lit up, and the heater and the radio came alive. After he pulled out onto the road, Sesshomaru looked over at Kagome, and opened his right arm to her. Not needing to consider at all, she scooted across the wide leather seat, and cuddled into his side. The radio played, some song about a rainy night, and the big boat of a car made its way through the dark of the night to a little, unfrequented two-track road.

Sesshomaru put the car in park, and ran his knuckles under Kagome's chin, tilting her face up so he could reach her lips. His long, moonlight hair came down around them as he rubbed his lips against hers, then parted her lips with his tongue. He could feel her heart beating like a drum as he explored her mouth, her little body trembling against him. He began to stroke his hands down her sides, petting her for a while before he reached under the sweatshirt, touching her bare skin. He stroked her ribs, and her back, and finally, the side of her breast, causing her to gasp. He felt her puckered nipple, and decided to take it up a notch, lowering his face to her breast, and taking it into his mouth. He continued to caress her side with his other hand, breathing in the warm, sweet scent of her growing arousal.


	2. Chapter 2

The lights of the executive suite were dimmed for the night. Sesshomaru let his forehead rest on the glass top of the massive mahogany desk. Midnight, Pacific Time. That made it three in the morning out east. Sesshomaru had spent the day in meetings with the ningen governor of California, who had been alarmed at the shakeup at Taisho West. And rightly so. Sesshomaru had longed to get his hands on Taisho West for years. The California division was a dumping ground for the flotsam and jetsam of his father's business and personal life. Heads began to roll as soon as the corporate jet set down at LAX.

For the last couple of years, Taisho West had been sliding into the economic abyss, along with the state of California. Even in the strong business climate of the past two decades, Taisho West had barely kept in the black, which had gotten Sesshomaru's spidey senses tingling. Internal audits, conducted under his close supervision, revealed exactly where the money was hemorrhaging. Part surgeon, part assassin, he had been working balls to the wall for the last three months, repairing what Inu Taisho's neglect had wrought.

And he had dragged his father's whelp along by the scruff of his neck, refusing to let InuYasha malinger at the country club while he made all the sacrifices.

She knew her time was running out. If she was going to make her move, she needed to make it now. She turned away from the billion-dollar view of the lights of Los Angeles. Her silk stockings whispered as she made her way across the room to stand beside her boss' chair. For her, power was the ultimate aphrodisiac. And he had power in spades. She, who dared anything, had never dared touch him before. Gathering her courage, she leaned in close and placed her hands on his shoulders, feeling the tension in his muscles.

"Kagura." God, his voice was sinful. Like the richest, darkest chocolate cake. She felt her center go liquid.

Sesshomaru, his face still resting against the glass surface of the desk, smiled as he smelled her arousal. Kagura was a brilliant executive, and he had big plans for her.

Emboldened, Kagura kneaded his shoulder muscles with her manicured claws. "Yes, Sesshomaru-Sama?" She purred.

The workday started early in the corporate offices of Taisho East. Kagome breezed into Inu Taisho's office and placed his morning Starbucks, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times on his desk.

"Have a seat, Kagome." He instructed, looking up at her over the bridge of the half-moon glasses he had taken to wearing. Inu Taisho knew just how punishing carrying a hanyou was on a ningen female's body. When he had seen what Izayoi went through when she was pregnant with InuYasha, he had vowed never to put her through such an ordeal again. He had been surprised, but not displeased when he learned that his cold player of a son had gotten this sweet little human pregnant. Even more surprised when he stepped up to the plate and married her. Still, the boy needed just a bit more work to be the man she needed…

He was aware of how hard Sesshomaru's long absence was on Kagome. His superior senses told him she was physically and mentally exhausted. He admired the fact that she did not let it show. She performed her administrative duties with crisp efficiency. Her demeanor was amazing for a mere teenaged girl. The only visible sign of the stress she was under were the shadows under her eyes. His grandpups would be strong.

"Are you over your morning sickness yet?" He asked.

"Are you afraid I will throw up on your desk again, Taisho-Sama?" She responded sweetly.

"I fear nothing, girl." He growled.

"If that is all, Taisho-Sama, I will get back to work." Kagome rose, smoothing her gray wool maternity dress over her belly.

"Sit back down." He ordered. He opened his top desk drawer and pulled out a manila file folder. Shoving the newspapers and his coffee out of the way, he flipped it open.

"Are those my medical records?" Kagome asked coldly. But her face was beet red.

"They are."

"What makes you think you have any right to look at those?" Her voice was now trembling slightly, in outrage.

"Are you not married to my son?" He responded blandly. "Do you not carry my grandpup in your womb? Kagome, do you have any idea what my being your alpha entails?"

For the first time ever when dealing with her father-in-law, Kagome lost it. "Some alpha you have proved to be. Sending my husband to California for three months when I am carrying your grandchild."

"Pup." He cut in helpfully.

Kagome got to her feet and planted her hands on Inu Taisho's desk. "You know what, Taisho-Sama? You can take this job and shove it!" She turned on her heel and made it one step toward the door. The room swam, then receded around her. Despite her determination to make a dignified exit, she felt her knees grow weak.

Inu Taisho was by her side and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Tell me what you want, Kagura." Sesshomaru ordered silkily.

Now filled with self-confidence, Kagura pressed her breasts against his shoulder, her hands clasping his upper arm. "I want you to love me, Sesshomaru." She breathed into his ear, her voice husky.

Finally, Sesshomaru raised his head from the desk. His face was adorned with a cold smirk. Bold as she was, Kagura was a demoness, with a demoness' sense of danger. She removed her hands from the big male's arm, and stepped back from him.

"I know everything about you. Do you know how I know so much about you, Kagura?"

Her eyes big, she shook her head, but decided to brazen it out. Not like she had any choice. "My Space? Face Book, perhaps?"

He actually laughed. "I know you so well because once, not long ago, I was you. Love means nothing to you. Less than nothing, it is merely a tool that you use to get what you really want. Power is what you crave."

He stood up and stalked toward her. "I am placing you in charge of Taisho West. And that includes my obnoxious half-brother. Good Luck. Now. Leave."

"Hai, Sesshomaru-Sama." She bowed and turned to walk out of the office.

"Oh, and Kagura. One more thing before you go. Don't. Ever. Presume. To. Touch. Me. Again."

The office door shut. He strode over to the window, looking at the lights of the big city. He flipped his cell phone open and hit speed dial. "Bankotsu."

"Hey, Sesshy. What's happenin'?" The background noise almost overwhelmed Bankotsu's voice.

"Are you at a party, Bankotsu?"

"Hell, yes. This is the city that never sleeps!"

"You are misinformed. The city that never sleeps is New York. But that is irrelevant. Ready the plane. Now."

"Right on."

The phone went dead.

Kagome was ensconced in one of the guest bedrooms at the Taisho mansion. Izayoi bustled around, fluffing pillows and feeding her chicken noodle soup and crackers. The motherly woman was in her element.

Inu Taisho's cell phone went off. He flipped the phone open. "Son."

"Father. I have taken care of business in California. Let Kagome know I will be home in a few hours, and tell her I love her."

"Will do, son." Inu Taisho flipped his phone shut.

"I love it when a plan comes together."


	3. Chapter 3

For those of you who weren't happy with where I left this short story, I've decided to let it ramble on a little further…

Izayoi sat on the edge of the big fluffy bed, stroking the girl's forehead and smoothing the blue satin bedcovers over her baby bump. After what felt like forever, Kagome heard her sigh, and the sound of her footsteps crossing the floor. Finally, the door clicked shut as she left the room.

The air in the room was full of the scent of potpourri. Kagome pretended to be asleep for a good ten minutes more, breathing through her mouth to keep from sneezing, before she allowed her eyes to pop open. It was no secret that Izayoi had wanted to take Kagome from her mother from the time she first set eyes on her. It was at a company picnic. Kagome was less than a year old, and her mother had left her propped up in a lounge chair while she went off to flirt and enjoy the festivities.

Sometimes Izayoi's tendency to smother drove her a little crazy. She was somewhat more comfortable with her real mother's benign neglect. She hoped that she would be able to achieve a happy medium when her baby… pup was finally born, she thought, quickly making the bed and pulling the nightgown Izayoi had dressed her in over her head. The thing had to be made out of an acre of muslin and trimmed with a mile-and-a-half of hand-made antique lace. After changing back into her work dress, she did her best to fold the voluminous nightgown and left it on the edge of the bed.

Fortunately, she had been placed in a guest room on the ground floor of the mansion. Shoes in hand, she managed to climb through the room's large window, dropping the remaining three feet to the ground outside with ease.

She didn't think for more than a moment about going back to Taisho's Corporate Offices, even though she was only a 15-minute walk from downtown. If she wanted to pick up her car, she'd have to go back into Inu Taisho's office for her purse and car keys. She cringed, imagining the gossip that was no doubt sweeping through the corporate offices after the way she had left work. There was no way she was going to walk the gauntlet past her mother and all of the other office employees whom she had known since childhood.

It didn't bother her in the least that she didn't have the cell phone that she was supposed to carry "at all times", or that Sesshomaru's farmhouse was several miles out in the country. A month ago she had traded her pumps with their three-inch heels in for a pair of comfortable Dansko clogs. They clacked cheerfully as she strode down the sidewalk on her way to the house she had called home since she and Sesshomaru got married.

J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S+J+S

Jakotsu stood at the entrance to the passenger quarters. He checked out his makeup in the dark, reflective cover of the compartment that housed the fire extinguisher. He had been waiting there, ready to jump into action, for most of the flight. He was not, as the pilot Bankotsu accused, ogling the passenger, or as the co-pilot Houjo called it, drooling over him. He simply wanted to make sure he was available to meet Lord Sex-Shomaru's every need.

The demon, even looking less than fresh dressed in wrinkled slacks and dress shirt, his tie hanging loose around the collar, was definitely worthy of ogling and even drooling over. Lacking his usual air of perfection, Sexy, err, Sesshy, appeared much more approachable than he usually did. Jak gathered his courage, feeling his heart pound harder in his chest, and walked "casually" past his passenger. He made his way over to the galley area, and prepared to mix up a batch of his special creation, the Demonic Bloody Mary.

He laid out his ingredients and equipment with care on a pristine white bar towel. Chilled pitcher and glasses, ice cold Loosa tomato juice, Lea and Perrins sauce, fresh California lemons, lemon juicer, and the Inu Taisho's private stock vodka, manufactured by a demon tribe that made its home in a very remote area of Siberia. What made it extra good was a generous sprinkle of celery seed he ground fresh in his battery-powered spice mill. Inu Taisho himself had told him that dog demons love the taste of Worcestershire Sauce and celery seed.

First, he prepared two Virgin Marys for Bank and Houjo. He sashayed past Sesshomaru on his way to the cockpit, knowing he looked good in his pressed, immaculately tailored flight suit. There were plenty of big brass zippers, set in at 45-degree angles, and about a thousand pockets, details that took the uniform out of the realm of the prosaic, and into the sublime. As a final touch, he always accessorized with jaunty, vintage scarves, a nod to the costumes worn by commercial airline stewardesses of the sixties and seventies.

Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger when the whine of the spice mill assaulted his delicate auditory canals. He knew his father got a lot of humor out of encouraging Jakotsu in his "air hostess" fantasies. He loved filling the corporate jet with a group of stodgy old fogies, and setting Jak loose on them. Adding to the young man's entertainment value was the intense crush he harbored for both of the Inu Taisho's sons. Sesshomaru was just grateful that Jak was shy around him. He was not so reserved in the company of InuYasha, and made a glorious spectacle of himself every time the younger sibling flew.

He was surprised when Jak brushed against the fabric of his trouser leg on his return trip to the galley. Momentarily, Jak presented him with a Bloody Mary in a chilled glass.

Excited was not an adequate word to describe how Sesshomaru was feeling, knowing he would soon be back in Connecticut with his little wife. It made him feel young and playful and even magnanimous. Deciding to play with his little fanboy just this once, he quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "No celery stalk?"


	4. Chapter 4

Sesshomaru had covered the car with a tarp when he left it parked in the aircraft hangar back in June. Three months worth of dust particles were released into the air when he pulled the tarp off. The dust motes danced in the narrow shafts of sunlight that entered the building through the small windows set high up on the arched walls. He opened the hood and disconnected the clamps that attached the trickle charger to the car's battery. He pulled out the dipstick to check the oil level and did a quick visual inspection of the belts and hoses and wires. When he swung the driver's side door open, he was greeted by the familiar scent of Armor-All and Guardsman Leather Polish. He slid behind the wheel and ran his hand over the dashboard.

He pumped the gas pedal twice and turned the key in the ignition. The car turned over with a purr and the lights of the dash came on, glowing red and aquamarine in the dim hazy light of the hangar.

"I've been gone a long time. Are you glad to see me?" He asked softly.

FM radio was not even an option when Sesshomaru's car rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. The skinny metal finger on the car's radio almost always pointed at AM 850, Danbury's classic oldies station. Jakotsu would probably approve of the playlist. During most of the seven-hour flight from Los Angeles, Jak had used a remote control to sort through 130 channels of satellite radio, stopping now and then when he found songs that made him happy. He sang along with Elton John and Freddie Mercury, and got down and boogied when he found a disco tune that appealed to him.

The DC5 was telling Sesshomaru to smile on his brother when he rolled into the parking garage and parked next to the old Volvo he had bought for Kagome. How droll.

He skirted the reception desk to avoid having to pay his respects to Kagome's mother. He didn't bother to knock on the door to his father's office, and was mildly surprised when the doorknob did not turn in his hand. Father and Kagome would not have gone out for lunch so late in the afternoon. Perhaps there was a meeting underway in one of the conference rooms.

Kaede occupied the office next to his father's suite. He tapped twice on her door and walked in. "Where is my father?" While Kaede was one of the few executives he could tolerate, he considered wasting time with pleasantries rather pointless.

The elderly lady looked up over her reading glasses. "Konnichiwa, Sesshomaru-sama."

It was hard to tell, because she was kind of wrinkled and jowly, but Sesshomaru thought she had a rather odd look on her face. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

In less than a minute he was back in the parking garage. His hand shook when he turned the key in the ignition.

The distance from the office building to the mansion was so short that exceeding the speed limit wouldn't save him any time, it would just increase the chances of getting in a collision. He sped anyway, and parked in the driveway with less than his usual precision.

He threw the door open and charged into the front hall. He followed the sound voices to the kitchen. Father and Izayoi stopped talking and stared at him. Kagome was nowhere to be seen.

He directed his predator stare at his father, ignoring Izayoi. "Where is my wife?"

It was Izayoi who answered. She was accustomed to Sesshomaru's abrupt manner and was not the least bit phased by his lack of manners. "She's having a little nap, dear. Why don't you have a cup of tea and let her rest for a while before you disturb her?"

Sesshomaru cocked his head to the side. Now that father and Izayoi had stopped jabbering, he should be able to hear Kagome's breathing and even her heartbeat anywhere in the house.

"She is not here." He stated tersely.

"Of course she is. She's in the blue guest room. I put her in there because she looks so nice in…"

Sesshomaru disappeared, and reappeared in the guestroom. He could detect Kagome's scent, potpourri, and fresh, fall air. The sheer curtains were billowing inward. For a moment, he was convinced that someone had come in through the window and taken her. But his sense of smell told him that the only ones who had been in the room recently were father, Izayoi, and Kagome, whose scent had changed subtly in the past months. Pregnancy hormones.

Inu Taisho and Izayoi came through the guest room door just in time to see Sesshomaru going out through the window.

"What on earth?" Izayoi gasped. When Inu Taisho didn't answer, she went over to join him at the window, just in time to see Sesshomaru take off running across the yard.


End file.
